Drew Leshko is an artist based in Pennsylvania, and he creates mesmerizing miniature architecture art.
Leshko is cutting, carving, and layering wood and paper to create a 3D archive of buildings in his original neighborhood in Philadelphia. Through his work, he aims to examine gentrification, history, and preservation in architecture. He observes photographs and recreates facades at a miniature scale of 1:12, which is the standard dollhouse scale.
Leshko’s miniatures include everything typical for Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, such as pawnshops, local dive bars, or convenience stores. The sculptures are filled with important details and nostalgia. For designing the details on the miniature buildings, he uses premade items, kits, or computer-cut pieces, though the paper is the primary component.
In his miniature pieces of art, Leshko also creates other cities with rapidly changing architecture, such as New Orleans. Leshko is especially focusing his attention on gentrifying neighborhoods, which are turning into brand new corporal neighborhoods with shiny buildings.
The average time necessary to produce one medium-sized building is around 120 hours, which means that the artist needs extreme dedication and patience.
Scroll down to take a walk down the nostalgic lanes of Philadelphia and New Orleans!
